Here is another science fiction story I had written over the weekend. Hoping it has a Twilight Zone vibe.
Copy and Paste By P.C. Snider
Michael Kane, a Computer Science major, has figured a way to hack a quantum simulation program. He is now able to copy the events of a day in the past, and paste a specific day of his choosing in the future.
At first his experiments seemed harmless. Almost just like playing a video game, and either winning, or losing.
In this current situation he is hoping he is going to win.
But what he doesn’t know is that in this current simulation event something terrible is about to happen.
The events within the program can now alter actual reality itself.
He thinks of the time when he was really young he had broken his right arm falling off a tricycle. Ended up in the hospital for three days. The best part of that though was he remembers watching old scifi shows on TV for hours on end.
He looks at his arm, still not fully healed, but he wonders about copying and pasting the days that are going to be like. He thinks to himself, I gotta really think about what days I am going to copy and paste to reuse later. Gotta choose good ones. Not bad ones.
He thinks of a time when he got rejected by a girl he was in love with in high school. Sarah. How it had hurt him so much he didn’t sleep or eat for about three days.
They had sat beside each other listening to tunes on his portable CD player sharing ear buds with each other.
After a few months of sitting next to each other he decided to ask her out. She said she had a boyfriend, and couldn’t go out with him. He remembers being slapped in the face. After that she had stopped sitting beside him.
Ugh. Definitely not that day. He thought.
What if I could get a better result though going back to riding the tricycle, be more careful riding it. Or being more prepared for Sarah’s rejection, not taking it so personally.
“Okay Computer, paste the day I fell off the tricycle.” He said.
The whole room flickers, and a flash of green and blue lights flickered throughout the room.
A sound of thunder followed, and a flash of lightning outside his office’s window.
#
A boy was riding his tricycle in the front drive way. He is about three years old. He notices a pothole in front of him at the very last minute before he would’ve hit it. He swerves and misses the pothole.
Just then a flash of green and blue lights flickered throughout the whole area. A sound of thunder followed, and a flash of lightning outside his office’s window.
#
Michael awakes at his keyboard. Look at his right arm. Everything seems normal, he rubs the spot where he knew it was broken before. No pain this time. Not even a single indication that he had broken it.
He looks at his computer screen.
It reads. Copy and Paste Experiment #1 successful. Would you like to continue to try again?
Michael takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes to see clearer. Put them back on. Copy and Paste Experiment #1 successful. Would you like to continue to try again?
He couldn’t believe the very first experiment went so well.
He thought about high school, and being rejected by Sarah.
“Let's go two for two!” He screams in excitement.
“Okay Computer, paste the day I was rejected by Sarah on the school bus.”
The whole room flickers, and a flash of green and blue lights flickered throughout the room. A sound of thunder followed, and a flash of lightning outside his office’s window. He glances quickly at the Computer screen. Warning: System Update had failed, System now unstable…
“Oh crap. Here we go!”
#
“I told you I have a boyfriend!” Sarah slaps Michael across the face. She gets up out of the seat and goes to the furthest one in the back away from him.
Just as the slap occurs, yet another flash of green and blue lights flickered throughout the school bus. A sound of thunder followed, and a flash of lightning outside the bus’s windows. He blanks out.
#
Michael awakes, with a slight pain on his right face. He glances at the computer screen. System Update Repaired.
Copy
and Paste Experiment unsuccessful.
He thinks to himself,
better not try that again.
Somethings best not to be tampered with. He thought to himself. He decides to shut the computer down for the night, and take a long break to consider his next project idea.
He powers the computer down. As he leaves his office to head home. A flash of green and blue lights flickers across the office, a sound of thunder, and then a bolt of lightning appears.
Copyright 10/06/2025
~P.C. Snider
